JACOB ZUMA: Dear Mr President...
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Mr President Ramaphosa, as one of the members of the ANC, I have also received your open letter, written to all members of the ANC. This is indeed an unusual act by the leader of our movement. Given the nature and seriousness of the matters raised in your letter, I have decided to take an unusual decision to respond to your letter, in writing, which is something I am not used to because I normally favour engaging in a discussion within our structures, rather than writing a letter.
Mr President, like other members of the ANC, I received and read your letter of August 23 2020. Although I write in my capacity as an ordinary member of the ANC, I am mindful of the fact that as the former president of the ANC, it may be unprecedented that I write a letter of this nature. However, I am of the firm view that the issues you raise in your letter are indeed serious and deserve our attention as members of the ANC.
Mr President, I address this private letter to you, as the president of the ANC, and request that you share it with the entire leadership as well as structures of our movement. I do not seek to address my own president and organisation through the media or public letters as that would be foreign to the well-established culture of the ANC. I write it not to attack your person, but to engage in constructive and honest debate that our movement always encourages. I also hope that my letter will be kept as an internal communication directed at the leadership and the entire membership
In your letter, in which you state what you view as “one of the greatest challenges since the advent of democracy”, you regrettably place the scourge of corruption right at the door-step of ordinary members of the ANC, most of whom are the urban and rural poor working-class people, who have never abused state resources. In their numbers, they live in abject poverty waiting for the ever elusive better life for all you and I promised them.
You are correct, Mr President, that corruption is one of the issues to be confronted head on. Your letter correctly points out that: “What has caused the greatest outrage is that there are private-sector companies and individuals (including civil servants) that have exploited a grave medical, social and ...
Mr President, like other members of the ANC, I received and read your letter of August 23 2020. Although I write in my capacity as an ordinary member of the ANC, I am mindful of the fact that as the former president of the ANC, it may be unprecedented that I write a letter of this nature. However, I am of the firm view that the issues you raise in your letter are indeed serious and deserve our attention as members of the ANC.
Mr President, I address this private letter to you, as the president of the ANC, and request that you share it with the entire leadership as well as structures of our movement. I do not seek to address my own president and organisation through the media or public letters as that would be foreign to the well-established culture of the ANC. I write it not to attack your person, but to engage in constructive and honest debate that our movement always encourages. I also hope that my letter will be kept as an internal communication directed at the leadership and the entire membership
In your letter, in which you state what you view as “one of the greatest challenges since the advent of democracy”, you regrettably place the scourge of corruption right at the door-step of ordinary members of the ANC, most of whom are the urban and rural poor working-class people, who have never abused state resources. In their numbers, they live in abject poverty waiting for the ever elusive better life for all you and I promised them.
You are correct, Mr President, that corruption is one of the issues to be confronted head on. Your letter correctly points out that: “What has caused the greatest outrage is that there are private-sector companies and individuals (including civil servants) that have exploited a grave medical, social and ...